Communication method and device, communication equipment and converged networking architecture

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and device, communication equipment and a converged networking architecture. The fusion networking architecture comprises a first cell and at least one second cell; the method comprises: a first cell sends first data to a second cell, the first data being sent to a terminal device by the second cell, the first data being processed at a first cell side through a first protocol stack, and the first data being processed at a second cell side through a second protocol stack; and / or, the first cell receives second data sent by the second cell, the second data is sent to the second cell by the terminal device, the second data is processed at the second cell side through a second protocol stack, and the second data is processed at the first cell side through the first protocol stack.

Description

A communication method and device, communication equipment, and integrated network architecture Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of mobile communication technology, and specifically to a communication method and apparatus, communication equipment, and a converged networking architecture. Background Art

[0002] With the development of mobile communication technology, the volume of communication services will increase in the future, and the requirements for cell capacity will become higher and higher; at the same time, with the development of mobile communication technology, the requirements for the quality of communication connections and service continuity will also become higher and higher.

[0003] Low-frequency cell signals have long transmission distances and strong penetration, ensuring high-quality communication connections and service continuity. However, low-frequency cells have limited spectrum resources and low cell capacity. High-frequency cell signals have short transmission distances and weak penetration, making them unable to guarantee high-quality communication connections and service continuity. However, high-frequency cells have abundant spectrum resources and large cell capacity. Optimization is needed to combine the advantages of high-frequency and low-frequency cells to improve network performance.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, communication equipment, a converged networking architecture, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, and a computer program.

[0006] The communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a first cell in a converged networking architecture, wherein the converged networking architecture further includes a second cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; the method includes:

[0007] The first cell sends first data to the second cell, the first data is sent by the second cell to the terminal device, the first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side, and the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or,

[0008] The first cell receives second data sent by the second cell, the second data is sent by the terminal device to the second cell, the second data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

[0009] The communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a second cell in a converged network architecture, wherein the converged network architecture further includes a first cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; the method includes:

[0010] The second cell receives the first data sent by the first cell and sends the first data to the terminal device, the first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side, and the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or,

[0011] The second cell receives the second data sent by the terminal device and sends the second data to the first cell. The second data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

[0012] The communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a first cell in a converged networking architecture, wherein the converged networking architecture further includes a second cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; the device includes: a communication unit and a processing unit;

[0013] The communication unit is configured to send first data to the second cell, the first data being sent by the second cell to the terminal device; the processing unit is configured to process the first data through the first protocol stack; the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or,

[0014] The communication unit is used to receive second data sent by the second cell, where the second data is sent by the terminal device to the second cell; the processing unit is used to process the second data through the first protocol stack; the second data is processed through the second protocol stack on the second cell side.

[0015] The communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a second cell in a converged networking architecture, wherein the converged networking architecture further includes a first cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; the device includes: a communication unit and a processing unit;

[0016] The communication unit is configured to receive first data sent by the first cell and send the first data to the terminal device; the processing unit is configured to process the first data through the second protocol stack, and the first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side; and / or,

[0017] The communication unit is used to receive second data sent by the terminal device and send the second data to the first cell; the processing unit is used to process the second data through the second protocol stack, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

[0018] The converged networking architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application includes a first cell and at least one second cell, the first cell is used to execute the above-mentioned communication method, and the second cell is used to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0019] The communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the above-mentioned communication method.

[0020] Specifically, the chip includes: a processor, which is used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned communication method.

[0021] The computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to store a computer program, which enables a computer to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0022] The computer program product provided in the embodiments of the present application includes computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0023] The computer program provided in the embodiment of the present application, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned communication method.

[0024] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application proposes a converged networking architecture, which includes a first cell and at least one second cell, the first cell being a low-frequency cell, the second cell being a high-frequency cell, the first cell having a first protocol stack, the second cell having a second protocol stack, the second protocol stack being a transmission-related protocol stack, the first protocol stack being located above the second protocol stack, so that the first cell and the second cell work together through their respective protocol stacks, and achieve the purpose of increasing capacity through the second cell while ensuring the quality of the communication connection, business continuity and other requirements through the first cell. In addition, since the second cell only has a transmission-related protocol stack, the second cell can be flexibly deployed and dynamically shut down (or enter an energy-saving state), which, on the one hand, makes the network flexible and scalable, and on the other hand, can achieve the purpose of network energy saving. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

[0026] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG2-1 is a schematic diagram of a converged network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 2-2 is a schematic diagram of another converged networking architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG4-1 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG4-2 is a first schematic diagram of a first cell implementing data offloading through a second cell according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG5-1 is a schematic diagram of another protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG5-2 is a second schematic diagram of a first cell implementing data offloading via a second cell according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG6 is a third schematic diagram of a first cell implementing data offloading through a second cell according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the first structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG8 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0040] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] As shown in Figure 1, a communication system 100 may include a terminal device 110 and a network device 120. The network device 120 may communicate with the terminal device 110 via an air interface. The terminal device 110 and the network device 120 support multi-service transmission.

[0042] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are only illustrative of the communication system 100, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. That is, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Internet of Things (IoT) system, Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, enhanced Machine-Type Communications (eMTC) system, 5G communication system (also known as New Radio (NR) communication system), or future communication systems.

[0043] In the communication system 100 shown in Figure 1, the network device 120 may be an access network device that communicates with the terminal device 110. The access network device may provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area and may communicate with the terminal device 110 (eg, UE) located within the coverage area.

[0044] The network device 120 may be an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, or a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG RAN) device, or a base station (gNB) in an NR system, or a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), or the network device 120 may be a relay station, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, or a network device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc.

[0045] The terminal device 110 may be any terminal device, including but not limited to a terminal device connected to the network device 120 or other terminal devices by wire or wireless connection.

[0046] For example, the terminal device 110 may refer to an access terminal, user equipment (UE), a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus. An access terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, an IoT device, a satellite handheld terminal, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolution network, etc.

[0047] The terminal device 110 can be used for device-to-device (D2D) communication.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a core network device 130 for communicating with the base station. The core network device 130 may be a 5G core network (5G Core, 5GC) device, such as an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a User Plane Function (UPF), or a Session Management Function (SMF). Optionally, the core network device 130 may also be an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) device of an LTE network, such as a Session Management Function + Core Packet Gateway (SMF+PGW-C) device. It should be understood that SMF+PGW-C can simultaneously implement the functions that can be implemented by SMF and PGW-C. During the network evolution process, the above-mentioned core network device may also be called other names, or a new network entity may be formed by dividing the functions of the core network, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0049] The functional units in the communication system 100 may also establish connections and implement communication via next generation (NG) network interfaces.

[0050] For example, the terminal device establishes an air interface connection with the access network device through the NR interface for transmitting user plane data and control plane signaling; the terminal device can establish a control plane signaling connection with the AMF through the NG interface 1 (referred to as N1); the access network device, such as the next generation wireless access base station (gNB), can establish a user plane data connection with the UPF through the NG interface 3 (referred to as N3); the access network device can establish a control plane signaling connection with the AMF through the NG interface 2 (referred to as N2); the UPF can establish a control plane signaling connection with the SMF through the NG interface 4 (referred to as N4); the UPF can exchange user plane data with the data network through the NG interface 6 (referred to as N6); the AMF can establish a control plane signaling connection with the SMF through the NG interface 11 (referred to as N11); the SMF can establish a control plane signaling connection with the PCF through the NG interface 7 (referred to as N7).

[0051] Figure 1 exemplarily shows a base station, a core network device and two terminal devices. Optionally, the wireless communication system 100 may include multiple base station devices and each base station may include other numbers of terminal devices within its coverage area, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0052] It should be noted that Figure 1 is merely an example of a system applicable to this application. Of course, the methods described in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other systems. Furthermore, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" herein simply describes an association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship. It should also be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can obtain information through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can obtain information through C; or it can mean that A and B have an association relationship. It should also be understood that the "correspondence" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can mean that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between two objects, or that there is an association relationship between the two objects, or a relationship between an indicator and the indicated, a configuration and the configured, and so on. It should also be understood that the “predefined” or “predefined rules” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in a device (for example, including a terminal device and a network device), and the present application does not limit its specific implementation method. For example, predefined can refer to a definition in a protocol. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the “protocol” can refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, such as an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0053] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0054] Low-frequency cell signals have long transmission distances and strong penetration, ensuring the quality of communication connections and service continuity. However, low-frequency cells have limited spectrum resources and low cell capacity. High-frequency cell signals have short transmission distances and weak penetration, making them unable to ensure the quality of communication connections and service continuity. However, high-frequency cells have abundant spectrum resources and large cell capacity. Future traffic volumes will continue to grow, placing increasing demands on cell capacity. Simultaneously, with the advancement of mobile communication technology, demands for communication connection quality and service continuity will also continue to rise. Converged high- and low-frequency networking is one way to improve network performance in the future. How to achieve this converged high- and low-frequency networking to enhance network performance requires clarification.

[0055] To this end, the following technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are proposed.

[0056] It should be noted that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to, but are not limited to, 5G networks, and can also be applied to future 6G networks, etc. In addition, for the concepts based on 5G networks described in the embodiments of the present application, other networks (such as future 6G networks, etc.) may have functionally similar concepts, such as functionally similar physical channels, functionally similar layer 2 (L2) protocol stacks, etc.

[0057] It should be noted that the "site" described in the embodiments of the present application can be but is not limited to a "base station", for example, it can also be an access point (AP), a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc.

[0058] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The above related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0059] Considering that in the process of network deployment, network planning, network deployment, and network testing and verification must be carried out before commercial use. The network deployment cycle is long, and once deployed, the network remains in an open state at all times, and the network does not have flexibility and scalability. For this reason, in the converged networking architecture proposed in the embodiment of the present application, the protocol stack of the second cell only has a protocol stack related to transmission, which is mainly responsible for capacity improvement. In this way, since the second cell only has a protocol stack related to transmission, the second cell can be flexibly deployed and dynamically closed (or enter an energy-saving state). On the one hand, the network is flexible and scalable, and on the other hand, the purpose of network energy saving can be achieved.

[0060] An embodiment of the present application provides a converged networking architecture, comprising a first cell and at least one second cell, wherein the frequency of the first cell is lower than the frequency of the second cell. The first cell may be referred to as a low-frequency cell, and the second cell may be referred to as a high-frequency cell.

[0061] It should be noted that the definition of low-frequency cells and high-frequency cells may change with the development of mobile communication technology. For example, FR1 (410MHz–7.125GHz) specified by 5G NR represents the low-frequency band, and FR2 (24.25GHz–52.6GHz) represents the high-frequency band. Cells with frequencies belonging to FR1 can be defined as low-frequency cells, and cells with frequencies belonging to FR2 can be defined as high-frequency cells.

[0062] In some embodiments, the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located. In some embodiments, the first cell is located at a first site and the second cell is located at a second site; the link between the first site and the second site is an ideal backhaul link; or, the link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link. Here, when the link between the first site and the second site is an ideal backhaul link, the time delay between the first site and the second site can be ignored. When the link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link, the time delay between the first site and the second site cannot be ignored.

[0063] As an example, Figure 2-1 shows a schematic diagram of a converged networking architecture. As shown in Figure 2-1, the converged networking architecture includes one low-frequency cell and four high-frequency cells. The low-frequency cell and the high-frequency cell are located in different sites (or the low-frequency cell and the high-frequency cell are at different sites). The low-frequency cell has a larger coverage area and is mainly responsible for the mobility of terminal equipment and radio resource control (RRC) connection control, as well as the connection management of the high-frequency cell. The high-frequency cell has a smaller coverage area and is mainly responsible for data transmission to effectively divert the load of the low-frequency cell, thereby increasing capacity. The site where the high-frequency cell is located and the site where the low-frequency cell is located are connected through a first interface. The link corresponding to the first interface can be an ideal backhaul link or a non-ideal backhaul link. In the 5G network, the first interface is the Xn interface. In other networks, the first interface can also have other names.

[0064] In some implementations, the second cell is a non-backward-compatible cell. For non-backward-compatible cells, the cell does not send system broadcast information or paging messages, that is, it does not support the resident status of terminal devices in RRC idle or RRC inactive states. The system broadcast information of the second cell is configured or broadcast via the first cell, and paging messages for the second cell are sent via the first cell. This simplifies the function of the second cell, simply enabling data transmission. This reduces the cost of the second cell, allows for dynamic and flexible management of the second cell, and further contributes to network energy conservation.

[0065] In some implementations, the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

[0066] As an example, Figure 2-2 shows another converged network architecture. As shown in Figure 2-2, the converged network architecture consists of one low-frequency cell and four high-frequency cells, located at the same site (or in other words, the low-frequency cells and high-frequency cells are located at the same site). The low-frequency cell has a larger coverage area and is primarily responsible for terminal device mobility and RRC connection control, as well as connection management in the high-frequency cell. The high-frequency cell has a smaller coverage area and is primarily responsible for data transmission, effectively offloading the load from the low-frequency cell and thus increasing capacity.

[0067] It should be noted that the converged networking architecture shown in Figures 2-1 and 2-2 only illustrates one low-frequency cell and multiple high-frequency cells associated with the low-frequency cell, but is not limited to this. The converged networking architecture can include a larger number of low-frequency cells, and each low-frequency cell can be associated with one or more high-frequency cells.

[0068] FIG3 is a flow diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a first cell in a converged networking architecture, wherein the converged networking architecture also includes at least one second cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; as shown in FIG3 , the communication method includes the following steps 301 and / or 302:

[0069] Step 301: The first cell sends first data to the second cell, the second cell receives the first data sent by the first cell, and sends the first data to the terminal device. The first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side, and the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side.

[0070] Here, in the case of downlink transmission, the first cell processes the first data using the first protocol stack and sends the processed first data to the second cell. The second cell processes the received data using the second protocol stack and sends the processed data to the terminal device. The second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack.

[0071] Step 302: The second cell receives the second data sent by the terminal device and sends the second data to the first cell. The first cell receives the second data sent by the second cell. The second data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side. The second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

[0072] Here, in the case of uplink transmission, the terminal device sends the second data to the second cell, the second cell processes the received second data through the second protocol stack, and sends the processed second data to the first cell, the first cell processes the received data through the first protocol stack, and submits the processed data to the upper layer.

[0073] The following describes the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application in combination with different implementation methods of the converged networking architecture.

[0074] Option 1

[0075] In some embodiments, a converged networking architecture includes a first cell and at least one second cell, wherein the first cell is located at a different site than the second cell, and the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is an ideal backhaul link. The first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack.

[0076] In some implementations, the first protocol stack and the second protocol stack may be implemented in, but are not limited to, the following ways:

[0077] Method 1: The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: a Service Data Adaption Protocol (SDAP) entity, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, a Radio Link Control (RLC) entity, and a Media Access Control (MAC) entity, and the second protocol stack includes a physical (PHY) entity.

[0078] Mode 2: The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; and the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0079] In the above scheme, the functions of the PHY entity, MAC entity, RLC entity, PDCP entity, and SDAP entity can refer to the definitions of relevant 5G standards.

[0080] In the above solution, the target entity has at least some of the functions of the PDCP entity and / or the RLC entity. For example, the functions of the target entity are a combination of the functions of the PDCP entity and the functions of the RLC entity. The target entity can be called a packet processing and link control (PPLC) entity. Of course, the target entity can also have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0081] In the embodiment of the present application, the first cell further has a PHY entity.

[0082] In an embodiment of the present application, the first cell further includes an RRC entity. The RRC entity on the first cell can be used to process RRC signaling on the first cell side and / or RRC signaling on the second cell side. The RRC signaling here can be, for example, RRC signaling related to transmission configuration (such as RRC signaling related to underlying transmission resources), or RRC signaling carrying broadcast information, RRC signaling carrying MSG3, RRC signaling carrying physical side resource (i.e., underlying resource) reconfiguration, RRC signaling carrying information about carrier management (such as carrier addition / deletion / modification) in CA, etc.

[0083] In one example, Figure 4-1 provides a schematic diagram of a protocol stack. As shown in Figure 4-1, the implementation options for the protocol stack of the first cell include the following: Option 1-2) SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity; Option 1-2) SDAP entity, PPLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity. The implementation options for the protocol stack of the second cell include the following: Option 2-1) PHY entity. Option 2-1) can be implemented in conjunction with Option 1-1) or Option 1-2). In addition, the implementation options for the protocol stack of the terminal device include the following: Option 3-1) SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity; Option 3-2) SDAP entity, PPLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity.

[0084] The first cell can implement data offload via the second cell. As shown in Figure 4-2, for downlink transmission, the first data sent by the first cell to the second cell (i.e., offloaded) is carried in a downlink MAC PDU. For uplink transmission, the second data sent by the second cell to the first cell (i.e., aggregated) is carried in an uplink MAC PDU. Here, a MAC PDU is also referred to as a MAC TB (also referred to as a TB).

[0085] In the embodiment of the present application, the operations supported by the second site or the second cell include the following situations:

[0086] Case 1) The second site or the second cell supports at least one of the first operation, the second operation, the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation;

[0087] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0088] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0089] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0090] The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device;

[0091] The fifth operation includes the following operations: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate a secondary cell (Scell) on the second site side. It should be noted that the first MAC CE is carried in a downlink data channel.

[0092] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink data channel is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and the uplink data channel is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0093] Here, taking 5G as an example, the uplink reference signal may be, for example, a sounding reference signal (SRS). The received SRS may also be understood as a measured SRS.

[0094] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink control channel is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the uplink control channel is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). It should be noted that the premise that the second site or the second cell supports sending a downlink control channel is that the second site or the second cell has downlink control channel resources (such as PDCCH resources). Similarly, the premise that the second site or the second cell supports receiving an uplink control channel is that the second site or the second cell has uplink control channel resources (such as PUCCH resources).

[0095] As an example: the downlink control channel is used to carry at least one of the following: scheduling information of a downlink data channel (also referred to as downlink scheduling information); scheduling information of an uplink data channel (also referred to as uplink scheduling information).

[0096] As an example, the uplink control channel is used to carry the following information: Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) feedback information corresponding to the downlink data channel. Here, the HARQ feedback information may be ACK / NACK feedback information.

[0097] As an example, the report includes at least one of the following: a channel state information (CSI) report and a power headroom report (PHR) report.

[0098] For the first operation described above, after the second site or second cell receives the first data sent by the first site or first cell, it sends the downlink data channel carrying the first data to the terminal device. After the second site or second cell receives the uplink data channel carrying the second data sent by the terminal device, it sends the second data to the first site or first cell. Of course, the downlink data channel and the uplink data channel can also carry other data information.

[0099] For the above-mentioned second operation, after the second site or the second cell receives the uplink reference signal of the terminal device, it sends the measurement result of the uplink reference signal to the first site or the first cell. The first site or the first cell can manage the second site or the second cell based on the measurement result, such as estimating TA, etc.

[0100] For the third operation described above, after the second site or the second cell receives the downlink control information (such as downlink scheduling information and uplink scheduling information) sent by the first site or the first cell, the second site or the second cell sends the downlink control channel carrying the downlink control information to the terminal device. After the second site or the second cell receives the uplink control channel carrying uplink control information (such as HARQ feedback information) sent by the terminal device, the second site or the second cell sends the uplink control information to the first site or the first cell.

[0101] For the fourth operation, after receiving the report sent by the terminal device, the second site or the second cell sends the report to the first site or the first cell. The first site or the first cell can manage the second site or the second cell based on the report.

[0102] For the fifth operation, the second site or the second cell receives the first MAC CE sent by the first site or the first cell, and sends the first MAC CE to the terminal device, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0103] Case 2) The second site or the second cell supports the first operation and / or the second operation, and does not support at least one of the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation;

[0104] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0105] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0106] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0107] The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device;

[0108] The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0109] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink data channel is PDSCH, and the uplink data channel is PUSCH.

[0110] Here, taking 5G as an example, the uplink reference signal may be, for example, an SRS. The receiving SRS may also be understood as measuring the SRS.

[0111] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink control channel is PDCCH, and the uplink control channel is PUCCH. It should be noted that the second site or the second cell does not support sending downlink control channels, and the second site or the second cell may not have downlink control channel resources (such as PDCCH resources). Similarly, the second site or the second cell does not support receiving uplink control channels, and the second site or the second cell may not have uplink control channel resources (such as PUCCH resources).

[0112] For the first operation described above, after the second site or second cell receives the first data sent by the first site or first cell, it sends the downlink data channel carrying the first data to the terminal device. After the second site or second cell receives the uplink data channel carrying the second data sent by the terminal device, it sends the second data to the first site or first cell. Of course, the downlink data channel and the uplink data channel can also carry other data information.

[0113] For the above-mentioned second operation, after the second site or the second cell receives the uplink reference signal of the terminal device, it sends the measurement result of the uplink reference signal to the first site or the first cell. The first site or the first cell can manage the second site or the second cell based on the measurement result, such as estimating TA, etc.

[0114] For the third operation mentioned above, when the second site or the second cell does not support sending a downlink control channel, downlink scheduling and / or uplink scheduling of the second site or the second cell side can be implemented through the first site or the first cell, that is, cross-site scheduling or cross-carrier scheduling is implemented. Specifically, the first site or the first cell sends first downlink control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI) to the terminal device, and the first DCI carries first scheduling information, and the first scheduling information is used to schedule the downlink data channel and / or uplink data channel of the second cell.

[0115] In order to achieve cross-site scheduling, the first site needs to clarify the Scell ​​resource configuration on the second site side. To this end, the first site obtains the Scell ​​resource configuration information on the second site side, so that the first site can schedule a certain cell on the second site side. Furthermore, in order to schedule a certain cell on the second site side, the first site needs to clearly indicate the scheduled cell in the scheduling DCI (that is, the first DCI). Taking the scheduled cell as the second cell as an example, the first scheduling information in the first DCI includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the second cell to be scheduled. Here, there are two ways to implement the first information:

[0116] Method 1: The first information includes identification information of the second site and identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is not unique between sites. As an example: the identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index (serving cell index), a secondary cell index (SCell index), and a carrier index (CI).

[0117] Here, for the Scells of each site, the identification information of the Scells (such as the serving cell index, the secondary cell index, and the carrier index) does not need to be uniformly numbered between the sites. The Scells of each site can be numbered starting from 1. That is, the identification information of the Scells of different sites may be the same. In this case, when cross-site scheduling is performed through scheduling DCI (i.e., the first DCI), the DCI needs to include the identification information of the site where the scheduled Scell ​​is located and the identification information of the scheduled Scell. In this way, a scheduled Scell ​​can be uniquely determined.

[0118] Mode 2: The first information includes identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is unique among sites. As an example, the identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: serving cell index, secondary cell index, and carrier index.

[0119] Here, for the Scell ​​of each site, the identification information of the Scell ​​(such as the serving cell index, the secondary cell index, and the carrier index) needs to be uniformly numbered between the sites. The Scells of each site can be uniformly numbered through the first site, and the identification information of the Scells of different sites will not overlap. In this case, when cross-site scheduling is performed through scheduling DCI (that is, the first DCI), the DCI only needs to include the identification information of the scheduled Scell. In this way, a scheduled Scell ​​can be uniquely determined.

[0120] For the third operation mentioned above, when the second site or the second cell does not support receiving an uplink control channel, the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side sent by the terminal device can be received through the first site or the first cell, that is, cross-site reception of HARQ feedback information or cross-carrier reception of HARQ feedback information is achieved. Specifically, the first site or the first cell receives an uplink control channel sent by the terminal device, and the uplink control channel carries the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side.

[0121] Here, the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side may be encoded in the following ways:

[0122] Mode A: The HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are jointly encoded. It can be understood that in addition to carrying the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side, the uplink control channel also carries the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side.

[0123] In some embodiments, the joint encoding method is: jointly encoding the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side according to a predefined rule.

[0124] As an example, the predefined rule may be to encode the HARQ feedback information of each site or each cell in a certain order to generate a HARQ feedback codebook. The order here may be "frequency domain first, then time domain" or "time domain first, then frequency domain" for the cells.

[0125] As an example: the predefined rule may be to encode the HARQ feedback information of each site or each cell in a cascade manner, thereby generating a HARQ feedback codebook. The cascade manner here refers to cascading the HARQ feedback information of the cell under the site with the HARQ feedback information of the cell under other sites. The first site may configure the constraint of the length (i.e., the number of occupied bits) of the HARQ feedback information of the second site and / or the first site in the HARQ feedback codebook through RRC signaling, so that the terminal device can jointly encode the HARQ feedback information of the second site and the first site according to the constraint.

[0126] In some embodiments, the joint coding method is: jointly coding the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side according to the instructions of the network side.

[0127] As an example: when the network side schedules a downlink data channel through DCI, the DCI carries a downlink assignment index (DAI), which is used to indicate the position of the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to the downlink data channel in the HARQ feedback codebook. In this way, the terminal device can jointly encode the HARQ feedback information of the second site and the first site according to the DCI.

[0128] Method B: The HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are independently encoded.

[0129] Here, the HARQ feedback information of different sites or different cells is independently encoded, and the first site or the first cell sends a second RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the second RRC signaling carries second configuration information, and the second configuration information is used to indicate a first uplink control channel resource, and the first uplink control channel resource is an uplink control channel resource dedicated to transmitting the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side. Here, the network side can configure the uplink control channel resources dedicated to ACK / NACK feedback for each site or each cell through RRC signaling.

[0130] For the fourth operation, when the second site or the second cell does not support receiving a report reported by a terminal device, the first site or the first cell receives a report from the second site or the second cell side reported by the terminal device. As an example, the report includes at least one of the following: a CSI report and a PHR report.

[0131] Here, when the second site or the second cell does not support receiving reports reported by the terminal device, the first site or the first cell sends a first RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the first RRC signaling carries first configuration information, and the first configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the report of the second cell through the first cell. Here, the first configuration information includes at least one of the following: reporting through the first cell, reporting the report of the second cell, and the cell associated with the first cell is the second cell. Here, in order to clarify the second cell, the first configuration information includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate the second cell. Here, there are two ways to implement the second information:

[0132] Method 1: The second information includes identification information of the second site and identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is not unique among sites. As an example, the identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index and a secondary cell index.

[0133] Here, for the Scell ​​of each site, the identification information of the Scell ​​(such as the serving cell index and the secondary cell index) does not need to be uniformly numbered between the sites. The Scell ​​of each site can be numbered starting from 1. That is to say, the identification information of the Scells of different sites may be the same. In this case, when the terminal device is configured to report a certain Scell ​​through RRC signaling, the RRC signaling needs to include the identification information of the site where the Scell ​​is located and the identification information of the Scell. Only in this way can a Scell ​​be uniquely identified.

[0134] Mode 2: The second information includes identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is unique among sites. As an example, the identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index.

[0135] Here, for the Scell ​​of each site, the identification information of the Scell ​​(such as the serving cell index and the secondary cell index) needs to be uniformly numbered between the sites. The Scell ​​of each site can be uniformly numbered through the first site, and the identification information of the Scell ​​of different sites will not overlap. In this case, when the terminal device is configured to report a certain Scell ​​through RRC signaling, the RRC signaling only needs to include the identification information of the Scell. In this way, a Scell ​​can be uniquely identified.

[0136] For the fifth operation, when the second site or the second cell does not support sending the first MAC CE, the first site or the first cell sends the first MAC CE to the terminal device, and the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0137] Option 2

[0138] In some embodiments, a converged networking architecture includes a first cell and at least one second cell, wherein the first cell is located at a different site than the second cell, and the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is a non-ideal backhaul link. The first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack.

[0139] In some implementations, the first protocol stack and the second protocol stack may be implemented in, but are not limited to, the following ways:

[0140] Method 1: The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity.

[0141] Method 2: The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0142] In the above scheme, the functions of the PHY entity, MAC entity, RLC entity, PDCP entity, and SDAP entity can refer to the definitions of relevant 5G standards.

[0143] In the above solution, the target entity has at least some of the functions of the PDCP entity and / or the RLC entity. For example, the functions of the target entity are a combination of the functions of the PDCP entity and the functions of the RLC entity. The target entity can be called a PPLC entity. Of course, the target entity can also have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0144] In the embodiment of the present application, the first cell further has a PHY entity.

[0145] In an embodiment of the present application, the first cell further includes an RRC entity. The RRC entity on the first cell can be used to process RRC signaling on the first cell side and / or RRC signaling on the second cell side. The RRC signaling here can be, for example, RRC signaling related to transmission configuration (such as RRC signaling related to underlying transmission resources), or RRC signaling carrying broadcast information, RRC signaling carrying MSG3, RRC signaling carrying physical side resource (i.e., underlying resource) reconfiguration, RRC signaling carrying information about carrier management (such as carrier addition / deletion / modification) in CA, etc.

[0146] In one example, Figure 5-1 provides a schematic diagram of a protocol stack. As shown in Figure 5-1, the implementation of the protocol stack for the first cell includes the following options: Option 1-2) SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity; Option 1-2) SDAP entity, PPLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity. The implementation of the protocol stack for the second cell includes the following options: Option 2-1) MAC entity and PHY entity. Option 2-1) can be implemented in conjunction with Option 1-1) or Option 1-2). In addition, the implementation of the protocol stack for the terminal device includes the following options: Option 3-1) SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity; Option 3-2) SDAP entity, PPLC entity, MAC entity, and PHY entity.

[0147] The first cell can implement data offloading through the second cell. As shown in Figure 5-2, for downlink transmission, the first data sent by the first cell to the second cell (i.e., offloaded) is carried in a downlink RLC PDU; for uplink transmission, the second data sent by the second cell to the first cell (i.e., aggregated) is carried in an uplink RLC PDU.

[0148] In an embodiment of the present application, when the link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link, the time delay between the first site and the second site cannot be ignored, and data scheduling requires the scheduling decision entity (i.e., the MAC entity) to know the status and usage of the wireless resources in real time. In this case, the second site needs to have a MAC entity to enable the second site to perform reasonable data scheduling. In addition, the second site does not have an RLC entity. In this way, when the second site needs to be released or replaced, there is no need to reestablish the RLC entity, thereby avoiding packet loss.

[0149] In some embodiments, a logical channel level (per logical channel) connection is established between the first site and the second site, and the connection is used to transmit uplink RLC PDUs and / or downlink RLC PDUs between the first site and the second site. As an example, the connection is a GTP tunnel or an HTTP channel.

[0150] Option 3

[0151] In some embodiments, a converged networking architecture includes a first cell and at least one second cell, wherein the first cell is located at the same site as the second cell. The first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack.

[0152] In some implementations, the first protocol stack and the second protocol stack may be implemented in, but are not limited to, the following ways:

[0153] Mode 1: The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a MAC entity; and the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity.

[0154] Mode 2: The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; and the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0155] In the above scheme, the functions of the PHY entity, MAC entity, RLC entity, PDCP entity, and SDAP entity can refer to the definitions of relevant 5G standards.

[0156] In the above solution, the target entity has at least some of the functions of the PDCP entity and / or the RLC entity. For example, the functions of the target entity are a combination of the functions of the PDCP entity and the functions of the RLC entity. The target entity can be called a PPLC entity. Of course, the target entity can also have other names, which are not limited in this application.

[0157] In the embodiment of the present application, the first cell further has a PHY entity.

[0158] In the embodiment of the present application, the first cell also has an RRC entity.

[0159] The first cell can implement data offload via the second cell. As shown in Figure 6, for downlink transmission, the first data sent by the first cell to the second cell (i.e., offloaded) is carried in a downlink MAC PDU. For uplink transmission, the second data sent by the second cell to the first cell (i.e., aggregated) is carried in an uplink MAC PDU. Here, a MAC PDU is also referred to as a MAC TB (also referred to as a TB).

[0160] In the embodiment of the present application, the operations supported by the second cell include the following situations:

[0161] Case 1) The second cell supports at least one of the first operation, the second operation, the third operation, and the fourth operation;

[0162] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0163] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0164] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0165] The fourth operation includes the following operation: receiving a report reported by a terminal device.

[0166] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink data channel is PDSCH, and the uplink data channel is PUSCH.

[0167] Here, taking 5G as an example, the uplink reference signal may be, for example, an SRS. The receiving SRS may also be understood as measuring the SRS.

[0168] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink control channel is PDCCH, and the uplink control channel is PUCCH. It should be noted that the premise that the second cell supports sending the downlink control channel is that the second cell has downlink control channel resources (such as PDCCH resources). Similarly, the premise that the second cell supports receiving the uplink control channel is that the second cell has uplink control channel resources (such as PUCCH resources).

[0169] As an example: the downlink control channel is used to carry at least one of the following: scheduling information of a downlink data channel (also referred to as downlink scheduling information); scheduling information of an uplink data channel (also referred to as uplink scheduling information).

[0170] As an example: the uplink control channel is used to carry the following information: HARQ feedback information corresponding to the downlink data channel.

[0171] As an example: the report includes at least one of the following: a CSI report, a PHR report.

[0172] For the first operation described above, after the second cell receives the first data sent by the first cell, it sends the downlink data channel carrying the first data to the terminal device. After the second cell receives the uplink data channel carrying the second data sent by the terminal device, it sends the second data to the first cell. Of course, the downlink data channel and uplink data channel can also carry other data information.

[0173] For the second operation, after receiving the uplink reference signal of the terminal device, the second cell sends the measurement result of the uplink reference signal to the first cell. The first cell can manage the second cell according to the measurement result, for example, estimate the TA.

[0174] For the third operation described above, after the second cell receives downlink control information (such as downlink scheduling information and uplink scheduling information) sent by the first cell, it sends the downlink control channel carrying the downlink control information to the terminal device. After the second cell receives the uplink control channel carrying uplink control information (such as HARQ feedback information) sent by the terminal device, it sends the uplink control information to the first cell.

[0175] For the fourth operation, after receiving the report sent by the terminal device, the second cell sends the report to the first cell, and the first cell can manage the second cell according to the report.

[0176] Case 2) The second cell supports the first operation and / or the second operation, and does not support the third operation and / or the fourth operation;

[0177] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0178] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0179] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0180] The fourth operation includes the following operation: receiving a report reported by a terminal device.

[0181] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink data channel is PDSCH, and the uplink data channel is PUSCH.

[0182] Here, taking 5G as an example, the uplink reference signal may be, for example, an SRS. The receiving SRS may also be understood as measuring the SRS.

[0183] Here, taking 5G as an example, the downlink control channel is PDCCH, and the uplink control channel is PUCCH. It should be noted that the second cell does not support sending downlink control channels, and the second cell may not have downlink control channel resources (such as PDCCH resources). Similarly, the second cell does not support receiving uplink control channels, and the second cell may not have uplink control channel resources (such as PUCCH resources).

[0184] For the first operation described above, after the second cell receives the first data sent by the first cell, it sends the downlink data channel carrying the first data to the terminal device. After the second cell receives the uplink data channel carrying the second data sent by the terminal device, it sends the second data to the first cell. Of course, the downlink data channel and uplink data channel can also carry other data information.

[0185] For the second operation, after receiving the uplink reference signal of the terminal device, the second cell sends the measurement result of the uplink reference signal to the first cell. The first cell can manage the second cell according to the measurement result, for example, estimate the TA.

[0186] For the third operation described above, if the second cell does not support sending a downlink control channel, downlink scheduling and / or uplink scheduling on the second cell side can be implemented through the first cell, that is, cross-carrier scheduling is implemented. Specifically, the first cell sends a first DCI to the terminal device, and the first DCI carries first scheduling information, and the first scheduling information is used to schedule the downlink data channel and / or uplink data channel of the second cell.

[0187] For the third operation described above, if the second cell does not support receiving an uplink control channel, the HARQ feedback information of the second cell side sent by the terminal device can be received through the first cell, that is, cross-carrier reception of the HARQ feedback information is achieved. Specifically, the first cell receives an uplink control channel sent by the terminal device, and the uplink control channel carries the HARQ feedback information of the second cell side.

[0188] Here, the HARQ feedback information on the first cell side and the HARQ feedback information on the second cell side may be encoded in the following ways:

[0189] Mode A: Jointly encode the HARQ feedback information of the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first cell side. It can be understood that, in addition to carrying the HARQ feedback information of the second cell side, the uplink control channel also carries the HARQ feedback information of the first cell side.

[0190] In some implementations, the joint encoding method is: jointly encoding the HARQ feedback information of the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first cell side according to a predefined rule.

[0191] As an example, the predefined rule may be to encode the HARQ feedback information of each cell in a certain order to generate a HARQ feedback codebook. The order here may be "frequency domain first, then time domain" or "time domain first, then frequency domain" for the cells.

[0192] As an example: the predefined rule may be encoding the HARQ feedback information of each cell in a cascade manner, thereby generating a HARQ feedback codebook. The cascade manner here refers to the cascade of the HARQ feedback information of the cell with the HARQ feedback information of other cells. The first cell may constrain the length (i.e., the number of occupied bits) of the HARQ feedback information of the second cell and / or the second cell in the HARQ feedback codebook through RRC signaling configuration, so that the terminal device can jointly encode the HARQ feedback information of the second cell and the first cell according to the constraint.

[0193] In some implementations, the joint encoding method is: jointly encoding the HARQ feedback information of the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first cell side according to instructions of the network side.

[0194] As an example: when the network side schedules a downlink data channel through DCI, the DCI carries DAI, which is used to indicate the position of the ACK / NACK feedback corresponding to the downlink data channel in the HARQ feedback codebook. In this way, the terminal device can jointly encode the HARQ feedback information of the second cell and the first cell according to the DCI.

[0195] Mode B: The HARQ feedback information on the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information on the first cell side are independently encoded.

[0196] Here, the HARQ feedback information of different cells is independently encoded, the first cell sends a second RRC signaling to the terminal device, the second RRC signaling carries second configuration information, and the second configuration information is used to indicate a first uplink control channel resource, which is an uplink control channel resource dedicated to transmitting the HARQ feedback information on the second cell side. Here, the network side can configure the uplink control channel resources dedicated to each cell for ACK / NACK feedback through RRC signaling.

[0197] For the fourth operation, if the second cell does not support receiving reports reported by the terminal device, the first cell receives the second cell-side report reported by the terminal device. As an example, the report includes at least one of the following: a CSI report and a PHR report.

[0198] Here, when the second cell does not support receiving reports reported by the terminal device, the first cell sends a first RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the first RRC signaling carries first configuration information, and the first configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the report of the second cell through the first cell. Here, the first configuration information includes at least one of the following: reporting through the first cell, reporting the report of the second cell, and the cell associated with the first cell is the second cell. Here, in order to clarify the second cell, the first configuration information includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate the second cell.

[0199] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application proposes a network deployment method for high- and low-frequency integrated networking and a collaborative working method between high- and low-frequency cells, so that the network has flexibility and scalability, achieves rapid network deployment, and can be dynamically shut down, thereby achieving the purpose of network energy saving.

[0200] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present application, the technical solution of the present application can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, and these simple modifications all fall within the scope of protection of the present application. For example, the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application will no longer describe the various possible combinations separately. For another example, the various different embodiments of the present application can also be arbitrarily combined, as long as they do not violate the idea of ​​the present application, they should also be regarded as the contents disclosed in the present application. For another example, under the premise of no conflict, the various embodiments and / or the technical features in each embodiment described in the present application can be arbitrarily combined with the prior art, and the technical solution obtained after the combination should also fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0201] It should also be understood that in the various method embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not imply a precedence in the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "downlink," "uplink," and "sidelink" are used to indicate the transmission direction of signals or data, where "downlink" is used to indicate the first direction of transmission of signals or data from a site to a user equipment in a cell, "uplink" is used to indicate the second direction of transmission of signals or data from a user equipment in a cell to a site, and "sidelink" is used to indicate the third direction of transmission of signals or data from user equipment 1 to user equipment 2. For example, "downlink signal" indicates that the transmission direction of the signal is the first direction. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. Specifically, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0202] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a first cell in a converged networking architecture, wherein the converged networking architecture further includes a second cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; the device includes: a communication unit 701 and a processing unit 702;

[0203] The communication unit 701 is configured to send first data to the second cell, where the first data is sent by the second cell to the terminal device; the processing unit 702 is configured to process the first data through the first protocol stack; the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or,

[0204] The communication unit 701 is used to receive the second data sent by the second cell, where the second data is sent by the terminal device to the second cell; the processing unit 702 is used to process the second data through the first protocol stack; the second data is processed through the second protocol stack on the second cell side.

[0205] In some embodiments, the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located; or, the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

[0206] In some embodiments, when the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located, the first cell is located at a first site and the second cell is located at a second site;

[0207] The link between the first site and the second site is an ideal backhaul link; or,

[0208] The link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link.

[0209] In some embodiments, the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is an ideal backhaul link, or the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

[0210] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a MAC entity, and the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; or

[0211] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; and the target entity has at least part of the functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0212] In some implementations, the first data is carried in a downlink MAC PDU; and / or the second data is carried in an uplink MAC PDU.

[0213] In some embodiments, the second site or the second cell supports at least one of the first operation, the second operation, the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation;

[0214] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0215] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0216] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0217] The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device;

[0218] The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0219] In some embodiments, the second site or the second cell supports the first operation and / or the second operation, and does not support at least one of the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation;

[0220] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0221] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0222] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0223] The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device;

[0224] The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0225] In some implementations, the downlink control channel is used to carry at least one of the following: scheduling information of a downlink data channel; scheduling information of an uplink data channel.

[0226] In some implementations, the uplink control channel is used to carry the following information: HARQ feedback information corresponding to the downlink data channel.

[0227] In some embodiments, the report includes at least one of the following: a CSI report, a PHR report.

[0228] In some embodiments, when the second site or the second cell does not support sending a downlink control channel, the communication unit 701 is used to send a first DCI to the terminal device, where the first DCI carries first scheduling information, and the first scheduling information is used to schedule the downlink data channel and / or uplink data channel of the second cell.

[0229] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information includes first information, where the first information is used to indicate the scheduled second cell.

[0230] In some implementations, the first information includes identification information of the second site and identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is not unique among sites.

[0231] In some implementations, the first information includes identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is uniquely numbered among sites.

[0232] In some implementations, the identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index, a secondary cell index, and a carrier index.

[0233] In some embodiments, when the second site or the second cell does not support receiving reports reported by the terminal device, the communication unit 701 is used to send a first RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the first RRC signaling carries first configuration information, and the first configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the report of the second cell through the first cell.

[0234] In some embodiments, the first configuration information includes second information, where the second information is used to indicate the second cell.

[0235] In some implementations, the second information includes identification information of the second site and identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is not unique among sites.

[0236] In some implementations, the second information includes identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is unique among sites.

[0237] In some implementations, the identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index and a secondary cell index.

[0238] In some embodiments, when the second site or the second cell does not support receiving an uplink control channel, the communication unit 701 is used to receive an uplink control channel sent by a terminal device, where the uplink control channel carries HARQ feedback information on the second site or the second cell side.

[0239] In some implementations, the uplink control channel further carries HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side.

[0240] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are jointly encoded.

[0241] In some implementations, the joint encoding method includes at least one of the following:

[0242] Jointly encoding the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side according to a predefined rule;

[0243] The HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are jointly encoded according to the instructions of the network side.

[0244] In some embodiments, the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are independently encoded.

[0245] In some embodiments, the communication unit 701 is used to send a second RRC signaling to the terminal device, the second RRC signaling carries second configuration information, the second configuration information is used to indicate a first uplink control channel resource, and the first uplink control channel resource is an uplink control channel resource dedicated to transmitting HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side.

[0246] In some embodiments, when the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is a non-ideal backhaul link,

[0247] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; or,

[0248] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0249] In some implementations, the first data is carried in a downlink RLC PDU; and / or the second data is carried in an uplink RLC PDU.

[0250] In some embodiments, a logical channel level connection is established between the first site and the second site, and the connection is used to transmit uplink RLC PDU and / or downlink RLC PDU between the first site and the second site.

[0251] In some implementations, the connection is a GTP tunnel or an HTTP tunnel.

[0252] In some implementations, the frequency of the first cell is lower than the frequency of the second cell.

[0253] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the above-mentioned communication device in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the communication method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0254] FIG8 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a second cell in a converged networking architecture, wherein the converged networking architecture further includes a first cell; the first cell has a first protocol stack, and the second cell has a second protocol stack, wherein the second protocol stack is a transmission-related protocol stack, and the first protocol stack is located above the second protocol stack; the device includes: a communication unit 801 and a processing unit 802;

[0255] The communication unit 801 is configured to receive first data sent by the first cell and send the first data to a terminal device; the processing unit 802 is configured to process the first data through the second protocol stack, and the first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side; and / or,

[0256] The communication unit 801 is used to receive the second data sent by the terminal device and send the second data to the first cell; the processing unit 802 is used to process the second data through the second protocol stack, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

[0257] In some embodiments, the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located; or, the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

[0258] In some embodiments, when the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located, the first cell is located at a first site and the second cell is located at a second site;

[0259] The link between the first site and the second site is an ideal backhaul link; or,

[0260] The link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link.

[0261] In some embodiments, the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is an ideal backhaul link, or the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

[0262] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a MAC entity, and the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; or

[0263] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; and the target entity has at least part of the functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0264] In some implementations, the first data is carried in a downlink MAC PDU; and / or the second data is carried in an uplink MAC PDU.

[0265] In some embodiments, the second site or the second cell supports at least one of the first operation, the second operation, the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation;

[0266] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0267] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0268] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0269] The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device;

[0270] The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0271] In some embodiments, the second site or the second cell supports the first operation and / or the second operation, and does not support at least one of the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation;

[0272] The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel;

[0273] The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal;

[0274] The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel;

[0275] The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device;

[0276] The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

[0277] In some implementations, the downlink control channel is used to carry at least one of the following: scheduling information of a downlink data channel; scheduling information of an uplink data channel.

[0278] In some implementations, the uplink control channel is used to carry the following information: HARQ feedback information corresponding to the downlink data channel.

[0279] In some embodiments, the report includes at least one of the following: a CSI report, a PHR report.

[0280] In some embodiments, when the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is a non-ideal backhaul link,

[0281] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; or,

[0282] The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

[0283] In some implementations, the first data is carried in a downlink RLC PDU; and / or the second data is carried in an uplink RLC PDU.

[0284] In some embodiments, a logical channel level connection is established between the first site and the second site, and the connection is used to transmit uplink RLC PDU and / or downlink RLC PDU between the first site and the second site.

[0285] In some implementations, the connection is a GTP tunnel or an HTTP tunnel.

[0286] In some implementations, the frequency of the first cell is lower than the frequency of the second cell.

[0287] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the above-mentioned communication device in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the communication method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0288] Figure 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 900 shown in Figure 9 includes a processor 910, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0289] Optionally, as shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 920. The processor 910 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 920 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0290] The memory 920 may be a separate device independent of the processor 910 , or may be integrated into the processor 910 .

[0291] Optionally, as shown in FIG9 , the communication device 900 may further include a transceiver 930 , and the processor 910 may control the transceiver 930 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0292] The transceiver 930 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 930 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0293] Optionally, the communication device 900 may specifically be the site where the first cell of the embodiment of the present application is located, and the communication device 900 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the first cell is located in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0294] Optionally, the communication device 900 may specifically be the site where the second cell of the embodiment of the present application is located, and the communication device 900 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the second cell is located in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0295] Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1000 shown in Figure 10 includes a processor 1010, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0296] Optionally, as shown in FIG10 , the chip 1000 may further include a memory 1020. The processor 1010 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1020 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0297] The memory 1020 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1010 , or may be integrated into the processor 1010 .

[0298] Optionally, the chip 1000 may further include an input interface 1030. The processor 1010 may control the input interface 1030 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0299] Optionally, the chip 1000 may further include an output interface 1040. The processor 1010 may control the output interface 1040 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0300] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the site where the first cell is located in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the first cell is located in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0301] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the site where the second cell is located in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the second cell is located in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0302] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0303] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0304] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0305] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0306] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0307] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the site where the first cell is located in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the first cell is located in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0308] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the site where the second cell is located in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the second cell is located in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0309] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0310] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the site where the first cell is located in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the first cell is located in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0311] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the site where the second cell is located in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the second cell is located in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0312] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0313] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the site where the first cell is located in the embodiment of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the first cell is located in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0314] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the site where the second cell is located in the embodiment of the present application. When the computer program runs on the computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the site where the second cell is located in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0315] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0316] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0317] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0318] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0319] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0320] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0321] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, applied to a first cell in a converged networking architecture, the converged networking architecture also including a second cell; the first cell having a first protocol stack, the second cell having a second protocol stack, the second protocol stack being a transmission-related protocol stack, the first protocol stack being located above the second protocol stack; the method comprising: The first cell sends first data to the second cell, the first data is sent by the second cell to the terminal device, the first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side, and the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or, The first cell receives second data sent by the second cell, the second data is sent by the terminal device to the second cell, the second data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located; or, The site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: When the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located, the first cell is located at the first site and the second cell is located at the second site; The link between the first site and the second site is an ideal backhaul link; or, The link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is an ideal backhaul link, or the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located. The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) entity, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, a Radio Link Control (RLC) entity, and a Media Access Control (MAC) entity; and the second protocol stack includes a physical (PHY) entity; or The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; and the target entity has at least part of the functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The first data sent by the first cell to the second cell is carried in a downlink MAC packet data unit PDU; and / or, The second data sent by the second cell to the first cell is carried in an uplink MAC PDU.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: The second site or the second cell supports at least one of the first operation, the second operation, the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation; The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel; The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal; The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel; The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device; The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC control element CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate a secondary cell Scell ​​on the second site side.

7. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: The second site or the second cell supports the first operation and / or the second operation, and does not support at least one of the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation; The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel; The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal; The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel; The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device; The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: The downlink control channel is used to carry at least one of the following: Scheduling information for downlink data channels; Scheduling information for uplink data channels.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein The uplink control channel is used to carry the following information: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information corresponding to the downlink data channel.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein The report includes at least one of the following: a channel state information CSI report and a power headroom report PHR report.

11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein When the second site or the second cell does not support sending a downlink control channel, the method further includes: The first site or the first cell sends first downlink control information DCI to the terminal device, where the first DCI carries first scheduling information, and the first scheduling information is used to schedule the downlink data channel and / or uplink data channel of the second cell.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The first scheduling information includes first information, and the first information is used to indicate the scheduled second cell.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first information includes identification information of the second site and identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is not unique among sites.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first information includes identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is unique among sites.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein: The identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index, a secondary cell index, and a carrier index.

16. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 15, wherein When the second site or the second cell does not support receiving a report reported by a terminal device, the method further includes: The first site or the first cell sends a first radio resource control RRC signaling to the terminal device, where the first RRC signaling carries first configuration information, and the first configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the second cell through the first cell.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first configuration information includes second information, and the second information is used to indicate the second cell.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The second information includes identification information of the second site and identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is not unique among sites.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein The second information includes identification information of the second cell, and the identification information of the second cell is unique among sites.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein The identification information of the second cell includes at least one of the following: a serving cell index and a secondary cell index.

21. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 20, wherein When the second site or the second cell does not support receiving an uplink control channel, the method further includes: The first site or the first cell receives an uplink control channel sent by a terminal device, and the uplink control channel carries HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The uplink control channel also carries HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are jointly encoded.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The joint encoding method includes at least one of the following: Jointly encoding the HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side according to a predefined rule; The HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are jointly encoded according to the instructions of the network side.

25. The method according to claim 21, wherein The HARQ feedback information of the second site or the second cell side and the HARQ feedback information of the first site or the first cell side are independently encoded.

26. The method according to claim 21 or 25, wherein The method further comprises: The first site or the first cell sends a second RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the second RRC signaling carries second configuration information. The second configuration information is used to indicate a first uplink control channel resource, and the first uplink control channel resource is an uplink control channel resource dedicated to transmitting HARQ feedback information on the second site or the second cell side.

27. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein When the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is a non-ideal backhaul link, The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; or The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein The first data sent by the first cell to the second cell is carried in a downlink RLC PDU; and / or, The second data sent by the second cell to the first cell is carried in an uplink RLC PDU.

29. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein A logical channel level connection is established between the first site and the second site, and the connection is used to transmit uplink RLC PDU and / or downlink RLC PDU between the first site and the second site.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein The connection is a GTP tunnel or an HTTP channel.

31. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein The frequency of the first cell is lower than the frequency of the second cell.

32. A communication method, applied to a second cell in a converged networking architecture, the converged networking architecture further comprising a first cell; the first cell having a first protocol stack, the second cell having a second protocol stack, the second protocol stack being a transmission-related protocol stack, the first protocol stack being located above the second protocol stack; the method comprising: The second cell receives the first data sent by the first cell and sends the first data to the terminal device, the first data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side, and the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or, The second cell receives the second data sent by the terminal device and sends the second data to the first cell. The second data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein The site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located; or, The site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein When the site where the first cell is located is different from the site where the second cell is located, the first cell is located at the first site and the second cell is located at the second site; The link between the first site and the second site is an ideal backhaul link; or, The link between the first site and the second site is a non-ideal backhaul link.

35. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein The link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is an ideal backhaul link, or the site where the first cell is located is the same as the site where the second cell is located. The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a MAC entity, and the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; or The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a PHY entity; and the target entity has at least part of the functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein The first data sent by the first cell to the second cell is carried in a downlink MAC PDU; and / or, The second data sent by the second cell to the first cell is carried in an uplink MAC PDU.

37. The method according to claim 35 or 36, wherein The second site or the second cell supports at least one of the first operation, the second operation, the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation; The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel; The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal; The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel; The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device; The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

38. The method according to claim 35 or 36, wherein The second site or the second cell supports the first operation and / or the second operation, and does not support at least one of the third operation, the fourth operation, and the fifth operation; The first operation includes at least one operation: sending a downlink data channel, receiving an uplink data channel; The second operation includes the following operations: receiving an uplink reference signal; The third operation includes at least one of the following operations: sending a downlink control channel, receiving an uplink control channel; The fourth operation includes the following operations: receiving a report reported by a terminal device; The fifth operation includes the following operation: sending a first MAC CE, where the first MAC CE is used to activate and / or deactivate the Scell ​​on the second site side.

39. The method according to claim 37 or 38, wherein The downlink control channel is used to carry at least one of the following: Scheduling information for downlink data channels; Scheduling information for uplink data channels.

40. The method according to any one of claims 37 to 39, wherein The uplink control channel is used to carry the following information: HARQ feedback information corresponding to the downlink data channel.

41. The method according to any one of claims 37 to 40, wherein The report includes at least one of the following: a CSI report and a PHR report.

42. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein When the link between the first site where the first cell is located and the second site where the second cell is located is a non-ideal backhaul link, The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, an RLC entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; or, The first protocol stack includes at least one of the following: an SDAP entity, a target entity, and a first MAC entity; the second protocol stack includes a second MAC entity and a PHY entity; the target entity has at least some functions of a PDCP entity and / or an RLC entity.

43. The method according to claim 42, wherein The first data sent by the first cell to the second cell is carried in a downlink RLC PDU; and / or, The second data sent by the second cell to the first cell is carried in an uplink RLC PDU.

44. The method according to claim 42 or 43, wherein A logical channel level connection is established between the first site and the second site, and the connection is used to transmit uplink RLC PDU and / or downlink RLC PDU between the first site and the second site.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein: The connection is a GTP tunnel or an HTTP channel.

46. ​​The method according to any one of claims 32 to 45, wherein The frequency of the first cell is lower than the frequency of the second cell.

47. A converged networking architecture, comprising a first cell and at least one second cell, the first cell being used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 31, and the second cell being used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 32 to 46.

48. A communications device, applied to a first cell in a converged networking architecture, the converged networking architecture also including a second cell; the first cell having a first protocol stack, the second cell having a second protocol stack, the second protocol stack being a transmission-related protocol stack, the first protocol stack being located above the second protocol stack; the device comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; The communication unit is configured to send first data to the second cell, the first data being sent by the second cell to the terminal device; the processing unit is configured to process the first data through the first protocol stack; the first data is processed by the second protocol stack on the second cell side; and / or, The communication unit is used to receive second data sent by the second cell, where the second data is sent by the terminal device to the second cell; the processing unit is used to process the second data through the first protocol stack; the second data is processed through the second protocol stack on the second cell side.

49. A communications device, applied to a second cell in a converged networking architecture, the converged networking architecture also including a first cell; the first cell having a first protocol stack, the second cell having a second protocol stack, the second protocol stack being a transmission-related protocol stack, the first protocol stack being located above the second protocol stack; the device comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; The communication unit is configured to receive first data sent by the first cell and send the first data to a terminal device; the processing unit is configured to process the first data through the second protocol stack, the first data being processed through the first protocol stack on the first cell side; and / or, The communication unit is used to receive second data sent by the terminal device and send the second data to the first cell; the processing unit is used to process the second data through the second protocol stack, and the second data is processed by the first protocol stack on the first cell side.

50. A communication device comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, the processor being used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31, or the method according to any one of claims 32 to 46.

51. A chip, comprising: A processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31, or the method according to any one of claims 32 to 46.

52. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31 or the method according to any one of claims 32 to 46.

53. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 31 or any one of claims 32 to 46.

54. A computer program, the computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 31 or any one of claims 32 to 46.

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